ignore it. when my grandmother passed away she left no will and tons of debt. her only asset was her home, and she owed more on it than it was worth. we asked the family lawyer what to do and he said to send the hospitals a death cert, and tell everyone else she had died intestate. certainly after 6 years there is no legal recourse for them. heck, i bet the debt has been sold to a junk debt buyer and they are jsut trying to keep the DOLA current to reset the statute of limitations. any response at all could possibly trigger a SOL reset and thus they will really start bugging you then. once they figure out the person is deceased they will simply sell teh debt to another JDB and the process starts all over. so ignore it.

Been there, done that. And for me (actually my brother and I) there was no comparison. My parents had revocable living trusts. Dad predeceased and his trust was retitled as a Family Trust for the benefit of my Mother; her own trust stayed as it was. When she died, we spent 15 minutes with our lawyer to get the ball rolling. Family trust was dissolved, combined into Mother's; a paralegal took the Warranty Deed for the house to the courthouse, had it transferred to me, then we went on to transfer the assets held in trust to our own brokerage accounts - my brother being compensated for the house. She died in September of 2007, and we made sure to have everything cancelled and transferred so there was nothing to create a tax liability beyond 2007. Her estate was totally finished when the 2007 tax returns were done early in 2008. My widowed and childless aunt was one of those who made the merest of plans- trusting "the right thing" would be done when the time came. And she also had a large estate she wanted divided equally between her two surviving siblings, the son of a deceased sister, and a widowed sister-in-law. She had accounts in 11 banks in Wisconsin and Minnesota (luckily Wisconsin is just across the bridge from here). I had her financial POA and when she completely relinquished her interest in finances, I spent a lot of time going from bank to bank consolidating accounts, retitling CDs back to just her name because the values and recipients were all over the map, finding stock certificates by going through 60 years of "important papers" neatly (but in no particular order) put away in boxes and drawers in her apartment. She passed away in Oct. of 2005, but there wasn't any way that estate could be discharged without taxes having to be done for a second year. It took 2 years to make the final disbursement. Truth be told, it wasn't all that difficult, just a lot of detail work to make sure that everything was, indeed, done "right". It was all a life lesson to me - get your affairs in order.

First thing you need to do is sit down and take a deep breath. You CAN do this. It's not all that difficult. about 3 years ago, I was executrix for my mom's estate--thanks to her simple estate, and the fact that all we heirs were direct decendants, it was easy. Now, I'm in the process of settling my aunt's estate. It is far more complicated to handle the estate of an aunt--because of the situation, there are estate taxes to be paid, where there aren't on a parent's estate. A few things you need to do, roughly in the order they need to be done. First--notify everyone who has an interest in your aunt's death--pensions, banks, social security, have her mail forwarded to your address (you'll need to take your documentation to the post office in her home town, probably). File her will at the surrogate's office, of course. you need to establish the value of her estate on the DAY OF HER DEATH. Her bank(s) can give you a printout of that info. You may have to consult a real estate agent if she owns a home. If she has savings bonds, you can get that info from the US website. You need to include the value of her personal possessions. You need to open an estate account (you cannot access all her funds, because she was an aunt, but the bank should allow you to put about half her assets into an estate account, once you have your short certificate. Speak to your accountant (and attorney, if you have legal questions about handling the estate) to make sure you know exactly what has to be done as far as the taxes--you will probably have to file her regular income tax for the last year she lived, then eventually, you'll file the estate taxes (expect to pay 15% of the estate in taxes). Next--handle her financial obligations. Bills (household, medical, etc), funeral expenses (including headstone). You need to take your executor(trix) fee. Those expenses all reduce the taxable estate, so be sure to pay them BEFORE you start to figure the estate's taxes. I imagine, being so far away, you're going to have some additional challenges in handling everything--my aunt lived locally, so I can't really help you with those kinds of things. Just take your time, don't rush through anything. Check everything you do twice (at least) and be patient. You really don't want to hurry through the process, because there's always the chance some stray bills or assets might crop up at some time. Oh, and don't forget to check the state's unclaimed property list, just in case she has anything on it. I found something in my mom's name when I was handling her estate--just a few hundred $$$, but still, it was easy to claim, and worth the little work it took. I'm sorry for your loss. Have been there recently myself, and know how difficult it is to think clearly about all the things you need to handle at a time like this. As I said, a deep breath, a little patience and a dose of time are going to be a big help to you.

I'm bringing this back up because I heard about it on Len Tillem's radio show. He calls it the list of 11, and I think it's on his website.. The List of Eleven One of the most tedious and difficult tasks in administering a trust or an estate is finding the decedent's estate planning documents and asset information. Frequently, children have no idea where their parents kept these important documents. After you pass away, the last thing you should want is for your children to have to search through your belongings in a tragic scavenger hunt to find your will, stock certificates, and other important papers. To avoid these difficulties, you should organize your personal and financial data. This is where the list comes in. Collect the information described in this list and give a copy to your relatives, or put the list where you know they can find it. In case something happens to you, the List of Eleven is one of the best ways to ensure that your relatives can find all your vital records. The name of the bank where you have your safety deposit box, its number, and the location of your key. The numbers for all of your insurance policies, health, life, auto, home, burial, etc., and the names and addresses of the agents for each policy. Itemization of your stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and the numbers of each, and the name and address of your broker. The names of the banks or savings and loans for each of your accounts, and the account numbers. The location of your cemetery plot or mausoleum niche. The location of your Will and the name of your attorney. Your credit card numbers. Your Social Security number. The name and address of your mortgage holder, account number, and the amount of the outstanding debt. The name and address of your accountant, and where your past income tax returns are located. The type of memorial or funeral service you want.